13 January 2009

The F3DM plug-in hybrid. Click to enlarge.

China’s BYD Auto showed the production version of its F3DM (dual mode) plug-in hybrid electric vehicle at the North American International Auto Show. The PHEV, which has gone on-sale in China, will begin US sales in 2011, according to the company. The company also showed the F6DM, a larger version of the F3DM due to go onsale this year, as well as an all-new battery-electric crossover, the e6.

BYD Auto, which is a subsidiary of China-based BYD Group, the leading provider of NiCd batteries (65% global market share) and lithium-ion cell phone batteries (30% global market share), uses BYD lithium-ion iron phosphate cells in its energy storage system. BYD says that its battery packs retain 80% of initial capacity through
2,000 full charge and discharge cycles, and have a 10-year lifetime.

The dual mode system runs the vehicle on electricity at start-up and under short-to-mid-range conditions. When the vehicle needs more power during acceleration, the gasoline engines and the electric motor drive the wheels together (parallel hybrid mode), providing the most power output. The engine also serves as a range extender for the system under electric drive (series hybrid mode). (Earlier post.)

Cutaway model showing the engine and motor of the DM powertrain. Click to enlarge.

Acceleration from 0-60 mph is 10.5 seconds, with a top speed of 93 mph (150 km/h).
The battery pack can be fully recharged from a household outlet in 7 hours. BYD says it can be quick charged to 50% capacity in 10 minutes.

The F6DM. The F6DM shares the same powertrain as that of the F3DM. Combined range is 267 miles (430 km) with an all-electric range of 62-miles (100km).

The e6. Click to enlarge.

The e6. BYD says it is planning four motor combinations for the e6, which can offer all-wheel drive with front and rear motors: 75 kW; 75 kW + 40 kW; 160 kW; and 160 kW + 40 kW. Electric power consumption will be less than 18 kWh/100km (290 Wh/mile).

Also present at the Detroit press conference was David Sokol, the chairman of MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company, the Berkshire Hathaway unit that last year took a 10% stake in BYD. (Earlier post.)

Sokol said that MidAmerican invested in BYD primarily because of the battery technology. Sokol later told Reuters that whether or not BYD manufactured their own cars wasn’t relevant to MidAmerican, because the real expertise was in the development of the batteries, the motors and the control systems.

At the show, BYD chairman Wang Chuan-Fu said the company would consider licensing its low-cost battery technology.

Comments

Peking or Beijing with its odd-even day driving restrictions will be a hot market for these cars, what use is a car if you cant drive it?.. I'm sure that city alone can suck up the entire production. There are places in the world that desperately need an economic BEV.

Time will tell with these batteries, but LG has a good reputation in that department. Hopefully they will do lots of testing.

No, you are thinking of Electrovaya's manganese series, which they claim is at around 330 Wh/kg (yet to be verified). Lithium-iron phosphate is only around 110 Wh/kg at the cell level in this kind of application. The packaging is only around 15% of the weight of the pack.

The pure-electric e6 features BYD's revolutionary battery technology - what we call the Fe battery. The range per charge is expected to be a remarkable 249mi (400km). Performance is surprisingly brisk, with 0-60mph (0-100km/h) acceleration in less than 8 seconds and a projected top speed of 100mph (160km/h).

The Right Size
What sets the e6 apart from other pure electric vehicles are its size and performance. With current battery capacity limited, most other manufacturers have elected to focus on small, lightweight EVs that stress efficiency over performance and range.

BYD, as a young brand with a rich history of IT development and cutting-edge battery R&D, has the drive and extroverted personality to take an unconventional approach and manufacture cars that embody the company's slogan, Build Your Dreams. That's the spirit and underlying philosophy behind the e6.

The pure-electric e6 is environmentally friendly, eliminating toxic emissions and greenhouse gases while driving. BYD's new Fe battery takes this "green" philosophy a step further: All chemical substances used in the battery can be recycled.

And while the range of many electric vehicles is restricted by their battery capacity, making it inconvenient to travel long distances, the BYD e6, with its high-efficiency Fe battery, can go up to 249 miles (400km) on a single charge. That makes the e6 suitable for daily commutes, around-town chores and even long journeys

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
For the next model, BYD needs to toss the gas engine and carry more batteries.

Even if this car makes it through the financial collapse - the lead paint and quality issues have so damaged the maker's credibility - it won't find buyers. Low cost manufacturing proves over and again that the safety tradeoffs kill the product in the long run.

Hopefully the new Administration will put some controls on governments disrespecting Human Rights and persecution of religious practitioners.

Are there batteries with great Wh/kg, but poor w/kg? If so, wouldn't adding a supercap with capacity for about 20 seconds worth of full acceleration neatly solve that problem and make an attractive unit, longer lasting unit?

Hi all, I'm a Chinese doing research on mobility battery for my boss. By chance I came in here and found all the comments on BYD's new development. It's really a shock to me. 'Cos I thought some of my friends in China are so blinded by the media and have prejudice against US people, while now it turn out so do you, US people. And you are probably even worse, with your so-called media freedom. Do you really ever make good use of your freedom and try to understand others with comprehensive information???

If you know any Chinese, you may browse through some Chinese forums, you can find that some Chinese battery practitioners don't agree with BYD either, they worry BYD is just an idea promoter instead of a real inventor. You think we are just a crowd of sheeps without dream? So wrong. I'm new to the industry, but I know a lot of serious and hard-working professionals in China, they really hope to help develop the technology and help China become a country that doesn't need to be suppressed by others as before. Yes, I know there will be a lot of greedy business men and corrupted government officers that would sometimes make our dream become ugly, but you cannot deny that China has made its progress in Economy and technology.

One cannot understand a country with seperate history, I bet you guys just know China as a communist country or a Qin Dynesty country, LOL! How does China become what she is today, there is a long story to tell, it's not only the Communist Party that has made us this way, but also the combination of our traditional cultures, religions, our history of honor and shame, and our family organization etc. that makes who we are today. We are not evil, we don't wanna become a threat to others, if you really know the Chinese history, you will see China is not a country that would take purpose to invade others. We want to have friends all over the place, we often say "the most generous the strongest", when I was a little girl, I was educated to be friends with all sorts of persons and countries, regardless of its culture, religion, color and political systems. It's not only a political policy, it's also originated from our culture and belief. But how do you US ever think of us? Do you think we want to poison you? Come on, you should come to China, you'll know we have our best products exported to your place already. We are not evil, we are just grown from a poor family. But who should be blamed for that? Well, we don't care, we won't waste time accusing others, we just want to focus on our bussiness, do our best and live a better life tomorrow. So, would you US plz give us a break, try to listen not to hear, try to talk not to tell.

Remember, a strong China will never be a threat to others. 'cos we just want to become strong to live a good life without being ridden, that's it.

If the government wants to prove to the outstide world that this car works and tell the Chinese people to buy them then the people will buy them.

Even when they want to put up the entire infrastructure, that may be needed for the next step towards BEV, it'll be done in a short period.

Remember the olympics? They were supposedly ready 2 years in advance. I bet that if some big company, outside China, tries to work together with them. The big EV movement might come from the Asia, or in fact is already coming from Asia.

And as Kelly said here that in the 70's the Japanese were mocked, now they're actually top innovators. Now it may well be the turn of the Chinese.